Numbers, Dates & Times

Cantonese numbers 1–10 use the same characters as Mandarin but with different pronunciations: 一 jat1, 二 ji6, 三 saam1, 四 sei3, 五 ng5, 六 luk6, 七 cat1, 八 baat3, 九 gau2, 十 sap6. The system (tens, hundreds, thousands) works identically.

兩 loeng5 vs 二 ji6: Like Mandarin, Cantonese uses 兩 before classifiers (兩個人 loeng5 go3 jan4 = two people). But Cantonese also uses 兩 more broadly in counting and phone numbers where Mandarin might use 二. In phone numbers, 二 is often pronounced ji6 (not yi6).

For telling time, Cantonese uses 點鐘 dim2 zung1 for o'clock: 三點鐘 saam1 dim2 zung1 (3 o'clock). Half past = 半 bun3: 三點半 saam1 dim2 bun3 (3:30). Minutes use 分 fan1: 三點十五分 saam1 dim2 sap6 ng5 fan1 (3:15). This is essentially the same as Mandarin.

Days of the week: Cantonese commonly uses 禮拜 lai5 baai3 or 星期 sing1 kei4 (both work, like Mandarin): 禮拜一 lai5 baai3 jat1 (Monday), 禮拜日 lai5 baai3 jat6 or 星期日 sing1 kei4 jat6 (Sunday). Key time vocabulary: 今日 gam1 jat6 (today), 尋日 cam4 jat6 (yesterday), 聽日 ting1 jat6 (tomorrow) — covered in the time adverbs lesson.

For months, Cantonese uses the same system as Mandarin: 一月 jat1 jyut6 (January) through 十二月 sap6 ji6 jyut6 (December). Dates use 號 hou6: 三月十五號 saam1 jyut6 sap6 ng5 hou6 (March 15th). The order is the same: year + month + day. Year is 年 nin4: 二零二五年 ji6 ling4 ji6 ng5 nin4 (2025).